China EVs & More

First, Tu and Lei recorded this episode while driving from Beijing to Shenzhen in an XPeng G9 Performance. XPeng kindly lent it to them for the three day trip where they stopped into Zhengzhou & Changsha before hitting their final stop - Shenzhen.For most of the trip (>90% of the miles which were a total of ~1.5K), they used XPeng's intelligent driving system called X-NGP. The purpose of the trip was to test the X-NGP system and get a feel for the charging infrastructure in China. They also recorded a video of their conversation and posted it to their newly launched YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnQkkMqjpoFs0yHmqmKitNQTu and Lei spend a few minutes talking about Elon's visit and rewind back to just arriving to China and what they've been up to since they arrived. The two also give some of their initial impressions and takes on the auto show. They then move to their trip so far, talk in more detail about the EV they're driving and their experience with charging. **Tu and Lei were NOT paid by XPeng to do the trip and XPeng had no editorial control over anything they posted or said.**The podcast ends with their thoughts on the connected vehicle world bifurcating with the possibility of EV companies needing a tech stack for China and a tech stack for the rest of the world. 

Tu and Lei spend the first few minutes of the show recapping their overall feelings about Auto Beijing 2024 (the show) and how it was a bit different from Auto Shanghai 2023. They both reflect on what the legacy automakers revealed at the show and how the legacies presence in Beijing this year was much different than what it was for 2023 in Shanghai. There's a pulse. Tu talks about when he bumped into the GM management team while being interviewed by CNBC's Eunice Yoon at the Chevy booth. They both then spent a bit of time reflecting on their 3-day trip from Beijing to Shenzhen in the XPeng G9 Performance including the performance of X-NGP and their thoughts on charging infrastructure during their trip. Tu moves the discussion over to his experience attending the 500K production vehicle for NIO that was held at their Hefei headquarters. The podcast closes with Tu and Lei's experience spending a few days in Shenzhen and getting to do some other memorable things while there. 

Tu starts off the podcast with an update on what he's been up to the last few days including visiting Jiyue and getting a sneak peek of the Jiyue 07 and attending the launch event for the Zeekr 009 Grand, a 4 seat executive MPV.Tu also had a chance to get a close look at the Xiaomi SU7 in the flesh. That transitions into a full discussion about Xiaomi and what they need to do to build on the success of the SU7.Tu and Lei then pivot back into a detailed discussion of the 009 Grand and their expectations for the super luxe vehicle. The segment closes out on Tu and Lei talking a bit about the new Li Auto L6, their smallest EREV in the lineup, but still a clone of the others. Lei lists out all the debuts that will occur during the lead up and at the auto show. 

Discussing March sales numbers, ongoing price war challenges, and Xiaomi's sales momentum. Preview of Beijing Auto Show expectations. Ford and Stellantis brand Ram facing challenges in US truck sales. Speculating on Tesla's growth in sales for the year.

This podcast begins by dissecting the Reuters article about the Tesla Model 2 being cancelled as a passenger vehicle.The conversation moves over to Tesla sales in China, predictions about total sales for 2024 and what Tesla could do to boost sales in 2024. They pivot over to a quick discussion about Porsche's struggles in China and what it'll take to turn its sales around in the China market. They also spend a few minutes discussing Xiaomi's continued sales and XPeng's struggles. Tu then talks briefly about Janet Yellen's visit to China and her emphasis on overcapacity in China. Tu then specifies that the overcapacity is much more prevalent on the ICE side, not so much the EV side but that there would nonetheless be pressure to export due to the price war and the inability for many Chinese EV brands to gain any sustained sales traction. The episode closes out with what Lei and Tu are looking forward to when they both travel to China for Auto Beijing 2024. 

Tu and Lei get right to the Xiaomi SU7 launch. They talk about Lei Jun's showmanship and the popularity of the Xiaomi brand in China which all helped to build excitement for this product launch.After an extended discussion about ALL THINGS Xiaomi SU7, they move the conversation over to Lei's trip to the NYC Auto show. Lei talks a bit about the World Car of the Year awards and who ultimately won. Lei also happened to visit a Rivian store and was able to see the R2 for the first time in real life and instantly fell in love. 

Li Auto adjusting their Q1 sales guidance downward was the first topic of discussion in this week's podcast. Of the three WeiXiaoLi triplets, Li Auto has been the darling of Wall Street but their sales have very suddenly hit a wall Tu then gives a short lesson on master production schedules, ordering parts and lead times and how any sudden change in that schedule can complicate things and lead to issues with the supply chain and inventory levels. Tu and Lei move back to a conversation about Xiaomi and their staying power and the power of social media in China and how it can help and hurt you in a very fast and severe way.Lei moves the discussion over to the annual press conference from BMW and how they also would like to continue with free markets for Chinese imports into the European market. The podcast closes out with some quick hits about some photo ops between CEOs, the EV100 and Nvidia GTC conferences, who spoke at them and what they said. 

Lei headed over to Germany for Porsche's Annual Press Conference so much of the podcast was dedicated to what Lei learned about during his visit and led to a broader discussion about Volkswagen Group and what Tu thought about VW Group's annual press conference and how important Porsche is to Volkswagen Group's global goals. After a detailed discussion on Germany's largest automaker and one of its most important brands, the discussion moved over to NIO and their reaching 40M swaps. Tu and Lei also talked a bit about NIO's mass market brand Onvo and how it'll be positioned alongside the NIO premium brand and the yet to be launched Firefly brand. The podcast ends with a discussion on not counting VW Group out just yet, although the mountain they need to climb to get back into the driver's seat in China seems insurmountable at this time. Tu also briefly discusses some of the initial quality challenges some BYD vehicles are having in the export markets, but doesn't see anything out of the ordinary or that shoud be cause for alarm just yet. BYD is new to those markets and their products will react to each of the climates differently but it's a learning process that should help them strenghthen the future quality and reliability of their global portfolio. 

Tu and Lei start this podcast out with going over the latest news on the tariff situation on Chinese EVs in the US and EU with the EU now also seeming to lean towards increasing protectionism. Lei then moves the discussion over to the R2 launch from Rivian, the follow up to their R1 and emphasizes the affordability factor with the R2. This turns into a broader discusision about Rivian and what it will take for them to ultimately be a successful automaker. Their attention turns to the Two Sessions, the Chinese government's largest conference that sets the economic priorities for the year and has most automotive CEO's attending. Lei dives into some of the details of the policies that are being considered at the conference. The podcast closes with Tu discussing the recent investments by legacy OEMs as well as BYD & Great Wall into Brazil and South America and how their powertrains differ from the battery electric vehicle. He believes that this is one of the next big potential growth opportunities and the investment into the sector illustrates that.

Lei begins this podcast with a brief explanation of the effects of the Lunar New Year on passenger vehicle sales traditionally. Tu points out BYD's social media campaign about how 'electric is cheaper than gas' after they'd cut prices of their already low priced vehicles, so much so that they are cheaper than ICE vehicles from Volkswagen and some of the other foreign automakers. Lei predicts that Li Auto may be the next EV startup that emerges from the pack in 2024 as others continue to struggle with price cuts and vehicles that aren't as popular among Chinese consumers. Tu and Lei then spend a few minutes to share their opinions on the US goverment's connected vehicle investigation and let's just say that both seem skeptical. The podcast ends with a discussion on potential HiPhi partners or acquirers including a look at Changan who have been rumored to be kicking the tires recently.